Refrigerator with can dispenser



Jan. 29, 1957 V. G. SHARPE ETAL REFRIGERATOR WITH CAN DISPENSER 7Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 IN ENTORS M2405 61 me)": BY fpwaeo6'. 51/7/1006 77/5/11;- flrrawvry Jan. 29, 1957 Filed Jan. l9, 1954 v.G. SHARPE ET AL 2,779,169

REFRIGERATOR WITH CAN DISPENSER 7- Sheets-Sheet 2 .INVENTORS Jan. 29,1957 v. G. SHARPE EI'AL REFRIGERATOR WITH CAN DISPENSER 7 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Jan. 19, 1954 INVENTORS 6? Sharpe BY Edward C Simmons 7Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 INVENTORS l/aezas 656 08 BY [0 weenC. 5717/70/75 Jan. 29, 1957 v. G. SHARPE ET AL REFRIGERATOR WITH CANDISPENSER 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 .I\ II! I l| lllll'l'l[IIZIIIIIIIIIlllrlll lllllllllllllfi lllllll- INVENTOR5 Vmms a. SHARP:

' [aw/m0 6. SIMMOMS BY Max/ 41 Jan. 29, 1957 v. G. SHARPE ET AL2,779,169

REFRIGERATOR WITH CAN DISPENSER Filed Jan. 19, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 P/00 INVENTORS VERLOS G. SHARPE EDWARD C. SIMMONS in THE/E ATTORNEY Jan.29, 1957 v. G. SHARPE ET AL 2,779,169

REFRIGERATOR WITH CAN DISPENSER Filed Jan. 19, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INV EN TOR.

Ver/os 6. Sharpe By fc/ward 6. Simmons Their A2Horhey United StatesPatent REFRKGERATOR WITH CAN DISPENSER Verlos G. Sharpe and Edward C.Simmons, Dayton, ,Ohio, assignors to General Motors Corporation,Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Application January 19,, 1954,Serial him-404,922

7 Claims. (Cl. 62- 117.3)

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularlyto'refrigerated cabinets.

An object of this invention is toprovide a refrigerated cabinet havingan improved frozen juice can dispenser in the cabinet.

Another object of this :invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinetwith a tray compartment with a door swingable to a horizontal positionand movable toward the back of the cabinet while in horizontal position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinetwith a liner around which is Wrapped a sheet metal evaporator whichdischarges into a refrigerant accumulator which forms a hollow verticalpartition.

Another object of this invention is :to provide a refrigerated cabinethaving an outer casing formed of two vertical side walls joined by atopwall ,in sucha manner that it cooperates with a similar refrigeratedcabinet either to be attached'side by side, or to be attached by anintermediate shelf section.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pair of adjacentrefrigerated cabinets having, respectively, a food compartmentautomatically maintained at below freezing temperatures and a foodcompartmentautomatically maintained cool but above freezing temperaturesand each compartment being provided with separate pairs of waist-highvertical doors movable vertically toward and away from each other.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the invention is'clearly shown,

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view mainly=of the cabinet ;8;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the pair of cabinets and theintermediate shelf section;

Figure 3 is a view of a portion ofFigure '2;

Figure 4 is a top plan view, not in perspective, of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional viewof the frozen foodcompartmentof cabinet8, taken slightly-behind the front of the cabinet;

Figure 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 66 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional viewsomewhat similar to Figure 5, buttaken along :a vertical plane further back within the cabinetv andomitting the shelves can dispenser, and movable baskets;

Figure 8 is a vertical.cross-sectional-view taken substantially alongthe line 8--8 v of Figure -6;

Figure 9 is avertieal.view somewhat diagrammatioand somewhatcross-sectional, taken along a vertical ,plane, substantiallyalong theline 9.- 9 of Figure 5 Figure 10 is a view of partof Figure 9, showirnga door in horizontal outward position;

Figure 11 is a viewsimilar to :Figure .10, =-but showing the door ininward position;

Figure 12 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken as shown.

Patented .Jan. ,29, 1957 :along the .line 12-12 of Figure 13 alongthetop of the includes an outer casing having two vertical side walls 10and 11 joined'by a top wall 12. The wall 10 has .legs 13 and 14 at thefront and back, and the wall 11 has .legs 15 and 16 at the front andback. This casing cooperates with a similar casing 17, having similarvertical walls joined by a top wall and provided with similar legs. Thetwo cabinets may be attached side by side, as is readily apparent, orthey maybe attached together by the shelf section 18. The shelf section18, when at the corner of a .room, as shown, can be attached to thefront edge 19 of the cabinet 17 and to the side Wall 11 of thefirst-described cabinet. The shelf section 18 itself -may includesidewalls, a backside wall and a top wall joined together by shelves 20, 21and 22. The side and back walls may be provided with supporting legs, oronly one leg 25 need be provided when the attachment is firm to the twocabinets. The cabinet 8 is adapted to maintain foods in frozencondition, while cabinet 17 is adapted to maintain food in a coldcondition, above a freezing temperature. The end cabinet 8 contains acomplete electrically energized refrigerating system, the evaporator ofwhich is maintained at below freezing temperatures. The cabinet 17 has acomplete electrically actuated refrigerating system, the evaporator ofwhich may be run on a defrosting cycle to maintain the food compartmentcool but above 32 F. The food compartments of these cabinets aremaintained at their proper temperatures, preferably by means ofthermostats responsive to compartment and/ or evaporator temperatures toturn on and oif the electric motor which drives the compressor of theusual refrigerating system.

The refrigerated cabinet8 also includes a frozen juice can dispenser 30,supported on the hollow vertical partition 31 on one side, and a sheetmetal vertical divider 32 onthe other side. The dispenser is furtherdescribed elsewhere in this specification.

The cabinet 8 has a liner formed by four sheet metal boxes 40, 41,42'and 43 (Fig. 7), with their adjacent walls slightly spaced from eachother to form the hollow divider 31 previously described and the hollowdividers 45, 46 and 47. These boxes are supported at the front of thecabinet by-a one-piece U-shaped molding 50 to which the front edges ofthe boxes are secured at 51 and to which the outside cabinet walls 10and 11 are secured A sheet metal refrigerant evaporator 48 is wrappedaround the bottom walls of compartments 40 and 41, the outer walls ofthesesame compartments and the top walls of these compartments, and ifdesired, the back walls. This sheet metal evaporator may haverefrigerant passageways 49 formed in it in any desired manner and therefrigerant finally discharges into a refrigerant accumulator 60 in thehollow partition 31 and from thence into the motor compressor 61.

The refrigerant motor compressor 61 discharges compressed refrigerantinto a condenser 62, which in turn the :formof sealed bags-49a, isplaced around the outside walls of :the boxes 40, .41, .42 and 143, asshown.

The compressor 61 may be placed, for example, at the rearupper corner of,the eabinet,.andth e condenser may -b,e :su pported at the rear ofthecabinet, as shown. The

sheet metal divider 32, as wellas the hollow divider 31,

and other walls of the .boxes gform apluralityof .smaller compartmentssuch as 70, 71, 72, 73, 74 and 75. The

ment when the doors are brought together. 'matter of these two doors 101and 102, aside from their for sliding such door horizontally inward whenthe door is in horizontal position. To this end, the two side walls ofthe smaller compartment before which the door 80 is placed, and similardoor 81, are each provided with a metal door supporting member or means83. Each opposed member 83 has a groove 84 formed therein and thesegrooves face one another and extend horizontally and backwardly into thecabinet. The door has a horizontally extending edge 85, having flanges86 provided with outwardly extending pins 87 near the edge 85.

The pins 87 extend into the grooves 84. The grooves 84 are provided withmeans cooperating with the pins 87 to maintain the door in a verticalposition, a horizontal position and to permit the door to slidehorizontally inward along the grooves. To this end, the lower edge ofthe grooves 84 at the front is provided with a horizontal recess 90,which receives the pin 87 to form a hinge around which the door 80swings most of the time. A spring clip 91 cooperates with another pin 92carried by the flange 86 to hold the door 80 in vertical position but topermit it to be pulled to horizontal position. A stop bar 94 is placednear the lower edge 85 of the door which abuts against the lower edges95 and 96 of the opposed supporting members 83 when the door is inhorizontal position. When the door has been pulled to the horizontalposition shown in Fig. 10, the bar 94 abuts against the edge 95, and thedoor can remain in that position for rearranging the articles within thecompartment. The user may push the door inwardly, as shown in Fig. 11,and then the pin 87 rides out of the recess 90 and slides along thelower edge 98 of the groove 84 as far inwardly as desired. The bar 94slides along the lower edge 96. At the limit of the inward movement, thepin 87 rides over the spring clip 99, and the door is locked releasablyin that position until the user desires to pull the door outward. Thedoor may be provided with a suitable handle 100. The door is removable,as it can be pulled out, away from the cabinet, as the pins 87 and 92can be pulled from recess 90 and spring 91.

The refrigerated cabinet 17 may be provided with a food compartmentrefrigerated by a plate-type evaporator, not shown. The remainder of theelectrically powered refrigerating system for this cabinet may besubstantially, as previously described for the cabinet 8. However, thethermostat for cabinet 17 preferably is calibrated to maintain its foodcompartment properly cool, but above freezing temperatures.

The refrigerated cabinets 8 and 17 are provided each with a pair ofwaist-high slidable doors 101 and 102 in front of the respectiverefrigerating compartments, and these doors are adapted to be movedtogether by an automatically controlled electric motor, not shown,controlled by the switch 103, or these doors can be counterbalanced andmay be moved by power from the user, as desired. These doors are movedagainst their respective compart- The subject relationship to thesub-doors 80, etc., the can dispenser and thetwo cabinets, is disclosedin Patent No. 2,737,781 to V. G. Sharpe and L. Gelfand for RefrigeratingApparatus With Vertically Slidable Door Means, issued March 13, 1956, towhich reference is made, if necessary.

The four lower subcompartments 72, 73, 74 and 75 may be provided withwire baskets 105 which have groove forming wires 106 adapted to riderollers 107 for sliding in and out of the cabinet.

The frozen juice can dispenser 30 is more particularly shown in Figs. 12and 13.

The dispenser is insertable in and removable from the cabinet. To thisend, the dispenser is provided with four rollers which ride on tracks121 and 122. These tracks are similar, face each other, and are formedof angle sheet iron secured to the partitions 31 and 32.

The dispenser has a plurality of chutes 123a, 124a and 125a, eachadapted to receive a plurality of stacks of cans with the longitudinalaxes of the cans 140 in horizontal position. The main can supportingportions of these chutes are made by wires 123, 124, 125 and 126, whichare spaced a slight distance from the side walls of the dispenser. Thesewires curve downwardly and forwardly, as shown in Fig. 13 and terminatein forwardly directed outlets 130, 131 and 132.

The side walls of the dispenser are mainly made by vertical wires 133which extend vertically down from the top horizontal wires 134 along thesides of the dispenser and curve around the bottom, as indicated at 135.In addition, there are other wires 136, 137 and 138 which extend alongthe side walls of the dispenser and provide lateral gnideways for theends of the cans 140 to maintain them from lateral displacement.

The rollers 120 are mounted on pins 141 and 142 which are carried bywires 143 which bulge slightly outwardly and inwardly along the sides ofthe dispenser and which are secured to other wires of the dispenser. Allof the wires are secured to each other whenever necessary to form asolid structure.

Means are provided at the dispenser outlets 130, 131 and 132 forliberating one of the cans of each stack of cans for removal andsimultaneous restrainment of the remainder of its stack of cans fromdownward gravitational travel. To this end, the front wires at the frontside edges of the dispenser are arced inwardly at 151, 152 and 153 toprovide recessed openings so that the fingers of the hand can be placedon opposite ends of the selected can. Levers 154, 155 and 156 are placedat the outlets 132, 131 and 130 in such a manner that when the leversare moved from their downward position, indicated by lever 154, to anupward position, indicated by lever 155, the lowermost can of the stackis released by the end 160 of the respective lever, and this can rollsdown against the curved portion 161 of such respective lever.Thereafter, when such lever is lowered from the position indicated bythe lever 155 to the position shown by the lever 156 the can movesslightly forward with the lever to the position indicated by the can157, where it remains until the user removes the can by placing fingersaround the ends of the can at the are 153. Simu1taneously with thelast-described movement of the lever, the end 163 of the lever movesupwardly and restrains the can 164 and the remainder of its stack ofcans from downward travel, so that only one can is removed at a time andthe stack is prevented from falling out of the dispenser.

The levers 154, 155 and 156 are preferably made of U-shaped wiresprovided with hinge flanges 165 to receive hinge pins 166 about whichthe levers fulcrum.

The cans for the various stacks are inserted into the dispenser byrolling the dispenser outwardly on rollers 120 and then the cans aredropped into the inlets 170, 171 and 172. The stack in chute 125a, ifcompletely filled, is somewhat V-shaped while the other two stacks inchutes 123a and 124a are somewhat L-shaped, as will be apparent fromFig. 13. After the cans have been inserted in the dispenser, it isrolled back on the rollers until the rear rollers 120 reach the detent173, which positions the dispenser firmly but releasably within thecabinet.

If desired, a front cover 175 may be secured at the upper part of thefront of the dispenser.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a refrigerating apparatus including a cabinet having a foodstorage compartment therein provided with a front opening and arefrigerating system including means for cooling said compartment,opposed door supporting members associated with said compartment havingWalls forming two spaced apart grooves facing one another and extendinghorizontally from said compartment front opening rearwardly into saidcabinet, a vertically swingable door for said compartment opening havinghorizontally extending edges, spaced flanges projecting from the innerface of said door adjacent one of said horizontal edges thereof, hingepins near said one edge of said door projecting laterally from saidflanges and extending into said grooves, stop means on the inner face ofsaid door intermediate said flanges and adjacent said one horizontallyextending door edge, said stop means being engageable with said doorsupporting members and so spaced from said hinge pins as to cooperatetherewith and support said door in a horizontal position. at the frontof said compartment when the door is swung from a vertical closedposition to an open position, said stop means and said hinge pins beingarranged to permit said door, while in said horizontal open position, tohe slid inwardly of said cabinet along said grooves of the doorsupporting members, and said hinge pins and said stop means beingreleasable from said grooves while the door is in its said horizontalopen position to remove said door from the cabinet.

2. An apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein the stop means engages ashouldered part on the door supporting members to limit movement of thedoor inwardly of the cabinet.

3. In a refrigerating apparatus including a cabinet having a foodstorage compartment therein provided with a front opening and arefrigerating system including means for cooling said compartment,opposed door supporting members associated with said compartment havingWalls forming two spaced apart grooves facing one another and extendinghorizontally from said compartment front opening rearwardly into saidcabinet, a vertically swingable door for said compartment opening havinghorizontally extending edges, spaced flanges projecting from the innerface of said door adjacent one of said horizontal edges thereof, hingepins near said one edge of said door projecting laterally from saidflanges and extending into said grooves, additional pins projectinglaterally from said flanges and spaced from said hinge pins, springclips associated with said door supporting members normally engagingsaid additional pins to maintain said door in a vertical position, stopmeans on the inner face of said door intermediate said flanges andadjacent said one horizontally extending door edge, said stop meansbeing engageable with said door supporting members and so spaced fromsaid hinge pins as to cooperate therewith and support said door in ahorizontal position at the front of said compartment when the door isswung from its vertical position to disengage said additional pins fromsaid spring clips, and said stop means and said hinge pins beingarranged to permit said door, While in its said horizontal position, tobe slid inwardly of said cabinet along said grooves of the doorsupporting members.

4. An apparatus as defined by claim 3 wherein the stop means engages ashouldered part on the door supporting members to limit movement of thedoor inwardly of the cabinet.

5. An apparatus as defined by claim 3 wherein the hinge pins and thestop means are releasable from the door supporting members while thedoor is in its hori- Zontal position to remove the door from thecabinet.

6. In combination, a cabinet having a compartment therein provided witha front opening, a refrigerating system associated with said cabinetincluding means for cooling said compartment to a temperature below 32F., a frozen juice can supporting and dispensing device slidably mountedin said compartment, said device comprising means forming a plurality ofseparate chutes each hav zg inlet at the top of said device and curvingdownwardly and forwardly one above the other, said chutes terminating inforwardly directed superimposed outlets at the front of the device, saiddevice being movable as a unit outwardly of said compartment throughsaid front opening thereof whereby said chutes are fillable from abovethe device with a plurality of cans to form a stack of cans in eachchute, a manually operable can dispenser lever for each of said chutes,said levers each having an inner end and an outer end and pivotallymounted on said device intermediate said ends at the chute outlets, saidinner end of each of said levers restraining the cans in a chute fromgravitational travel to the outlet thereof, said outer end of each ofsaid levers being movable upwardly about said pivotal mounting to causethe inner end of a lever to liberate a lowermost can in a stack thereofin a chute to the chute outlet, and said outer end of each of saidlevers being so shaped as to retain the liberated can at a chute outletand directly exposed to the low temperature within said compartmentuntil removed from said device.

7. The combination defined by claim 6 wherein the chutes and thedispenser levers of the can supporting and dispensing device are formedby a plurality of joined together Wires. I

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